Leconfield Coonawarra Reserve Shiraz 2020

In Coonawarra, Shiraz lives in the permanent shadow of Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s a fact of life for the grape. Thank goodness for producers such as Leconfield who continue to beat the Shiraz drum. In the 2020 reserve, we see a complexity that lives up to its ‘reserve’ title, something to be enjoyed now but also reserved for future enjoyment. Arrives dark, dense and intense in dusty earth aromas, camphor, blackberry and woody spice. The reserve isn’t shy in French oak (vanilla beam, allspice, cigar box) but is well-supported on the palate by layer upon layer of fruit led by cassis, blackberry, savoury black olive and a world of spice (sage, liquorice, star anise). Warm and inviting now, but with structure and enough in ‘reserve’ for a solid future.

Jeni Port

Wine critic at Winepilot

Jeni Port is one of Australia’s top wine communicators. Based in Melbourne, Jeni created the first wine column in the (then) Sun News-Pictorial before moving over to The Age and becoming that paper’s longest-serving wine writer. Over the years she has written for most Australian wine magazines and these days calls WinePilot home. She is also a Tasting Panel member on the Halliday Wine Companion. She was named Wine Communicator of the Year and Legend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in 2014 and in 2018 Legend of the Vine. She is a founding board member of Australian Women In Wine and is the co-deputy chair of Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards.

Wine writer and critic